


Celebration

by JMount74



Series: Fluffember 2020 [12]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:41:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27521728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JMount74/pseuds/JMount74
Summary: EOS learns about celebrations and the importance of personal ones.
Series: Fluffember 2020 [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1997284
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15





	Celebration

EOS watched, with what she now knew was curiosity, life unfolding on the blue-green planet below her. She paid particular attention to the inhabitants of the tiny island referred to as ‘home’ by her creator and friend John and his family, and as Tracy Island by the rest of the world.

In the seven months she had been with the Tracy’s EOS had learned a lot. She learnt about human nature, good and bad, she learnt about emotions and feelings and how to identify them in herself.

She learnt that her family were a) very unusual for humans, b) defied the odds every single time and c) some of them were very weird.

So it was that this morning EOS spent the entire time watching the oddness of humans playing out in the Tracy’s lounge. Actually it had started the night before when Virgil had taken Two out on a supply run at 10pm. This was not a normal time to be out, and EOS’ curiosity got the better of her. She watched the holographic feed as Two flew across the world to Norway, where Virgil, Gordon and Alan proceeded to chop down a small pine tree, load it into the cargo bay and bring it back.

This morning was unique by her records. Scott had been up as usual for his 5am circuit of the island, followed by Gordon at 6am for his laps of the pool. What was unusual was both Virgil and Alan were up at 7am. Up, dressed and ready to go and not an emergency in sight. She almost asked John if his brothers were ill.

After the four had eaten, things went from unusual to weird. The two oldest proceeded to place the now potted tree in a corner of the lounge while the two youngest retrieved boxes from the storage area.

Scott, in what she could only imagine was a fit of self-preservation against what was happening, then left the area, citing paperwork. He had been jeered by the youngest. Virgil had seemed very sad to see him go.

And by what she witnessed over the next three hours; EOS believed that Scott had made a wise choice that Virgil was a little jealous of.

The terrible two, as she had heard the oldest three refer to the youngest two as, proceeded to take things out of the boxes and almost literally throw them on the tree. Funny little orbs on string, sparkly strands of various colours, small ornaments and gaudy covered chocolates of various sizes – all were haphazardly placed onto the tree.

While they were doing this, Virgil was coming along behind them and changing the positioning of everything. It took almost four hours in the end, but by lunch time the tree was smartly decked out in everything from the boxes and had a golden star on top.

It was quite a thing to watch.

‘John,’ she asked.  
‘Yes, EOS?’  
‘Why have your brothers spent the morning decorating a tree from Norway?’  
‘Ah. I believe if you search under Christmas you will find your answer.’

John hadn’t looked up once from the pile of paperwork he was completing. It took her less than 0.3 seconds to find the references.

‘I do not understand this celebration.’  
‘What is it you don’t understand?’  
‘What does a decorated pine tree have to with a man who died over 2000 years previously?’

John put down his paperwork. In truth, he was glad of the distraction, and he did enjoy explaining new things to EOS. He got himself a coffee and a bagel and settled for a long chat.

‘The origins of Christmas began long before then,’ he started, wondering if she had already looked these details up.  
‘Yes, I saw that the group called Christians took what they viewed as a pagan holiday and absorbed it into their own religion.’  
‘That’s right. In an effort to make transition between religions easier, it was decided to change the celebration called Saturnalia and call it the birthdate of Christ.’  
‘I understand that. It seems a logical thing to do if you want people to change to different beliefs.’

‘Humans are very good at taking a concept, changing that concept over time and then the original meaning behind the concept is lost while the actions of the concept continue. Christmas is a good example of this. It started as a pagan ritual to honour the Roman god Saturn as a way to encourage the rebirth of the ground. Saturn was the god of agriculture. It was absorbed by the new Christian religion and rebranded as the birth of Christ, with many of the original features kept. Now, some people throughout the world still celebrate this as a religious holiday, while others have lost that original concept and just celebrate it as a way to have fun and show love to one another in the darkness of winter.’

It was probably one of the longest speeches he had made for a while, and John loved facts and sharing these. EOS was quiet for a moment, her white lights almost giving him a feeling that she was thinking over what he had said.

‘So it does not matter if a person is religious or not, what matters is the coming together and celebrating?’  
‘For many, yes, that is what is important.’  
‘And you humans have many celebrations like this?’  
‘Hmm, I suppose we have a few. Try looking up Easter, this is the same concept as Christmas, and see what other ones you can find.’

EOS went back to her research. John finished his coffee and lunch and returned to the observation deck. He wondered what she would ask next. Life with EOS was never boring, and he had loved every second of it (well, almost every second).

‘I see that there are a number of international, national and individual celebrations, along with some religious and some non-religious.’  
‘That’s right.’  
‘How do you choose which you celebrate and which you do not?’  
‘That is a good question, EOS. Mostly, it comes down to what and where you were raised. For example, my brothers and I were raised in America, so we celebrate Christmas, New year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Halloween and Thanksgiving as national and international holidays. We also, because we are from Kansas, celebrate Washington’s birthday. And we have Mother’s, Father’s and Grandparent’s Day as well as our own birthdays and wedding anniversary days.’

EOS was quiet for a while as she absorbed this.

‘Some celebrations, then, are very personal?’  
‘Yes, they help us remember personal milestones.’  
‘And you all celebrate the date of your birth?’  
‘Yes. It is an opportunity for reflecting on the year past and on what you hope the next year will bring.’

She was quiet again.

‘Then, maybe, I should celebrate my birthday.’  
‘I think that might be a nice thing to do.’  
‘I have had a lot happen in the past year.’  
‘Do you know when you were born?’

EOS contemplated that question. It seemed a difficult one to answer. Did she know when she was born? There was the concept of ‘being’ – of that time all she really had was confusion and fear – she had no way of construing time back then. Was she born the moment John had created her or the moment she was sentient enough to name herself and recognise what she was?

‘I do not know when I was born. I see that you celebrate the reality of birth into the world but not your conception. Logically then, for me, when you created me would be my conception, but I do not know when I was thrust into the world. I had no understanding of time back then.’  
‘Then you are in a unique position, EOS. You can choose a date of importance to be your birth date. What will you choose?’

She though a moment longer.

‘I will not choose the day I met your brother Scott on the train. I did not know what I was back then. I will not choose the day I met you, as this will bring uncomfortable memories to the fore. I will choose June 27th.’  
‘Ok then. May I ask why that date?’  
‘It was the day the last of your brothers accepted me as part of your family.’  
‘Then I think that is the perfect date to celebrate as your birthday.’

EOS’s lights went pink with pleasure. She was enjoying learning, enjoying her life, loving her family. And now she felt even closer to them.

**Author's Note:**

> There is no clear indication of date when EOS appeared, so all dates and timeframes used are from my own imagination.


End file.
